Freie Universität is a favorite destination for students all over the world. The university’s more than 100 partnerships with higher education institutions in other countries promote student exchanges and academic and scientific cooperation. The new “International” section presents the university’s international network and information on funding opportunities, with all of this information now appearing in a single location and with an even clearer and more easily understood design.

In its most recent university ranking, the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE) certified various subjects at Freie Universität Berlin excellence in internationality. CHE particularly highlighted the transnationally oriented subjects English and North American studies and German language and literature. The university also obtained top rankings with regard to research achievements in the disciplines German language and literature, Romance languages and literatures, education, and psychology. These were all of the subjects in which indicators were examined for research performance.

On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in what is now Ukraine, was the site of the world’s first nuclear disaster, when a true “worst-case scenario” unfolded. The Environmental Policy Research Centre (FFU) at Freie Universität had been founded just three days before as a research unit.

Scientists from the Division of Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensing in the Institute of Geological Sciences at Freie Universität Berlin have succeeded in creating a model simulating the formation of mysterious structures on the surface of the Mars volcano, Olympus Mons. The study was conducted in collaboration with the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam and Arizona State University. The findings were published in the latest issue of the international scientific journal, Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets.

Citing a book or essay is part of scholarly work. But what about images, collections of sources, digitized objects, 3D models, or databases, especially if they are only present in virtual form on the Internet? These kinds of research data are playing an increasingly important role in the field of studies of ancient civilizations.

Harry Potter runs. He has snuck into the Ministry of Magic and stolen a medallion. The evil wizard Yaxley hurries after him with an angry look on his face. He fires magical bolts at the boy. They strike like lightning, but miss their target. The balls of light hit the walls and explode with a roar. Dramatic music accompanies the scene.

The Egyptian electrochemist Dr. Gumaa El-Nagar has received a Georg Forster HERMES Research Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to work for two years at Freie Universität in the Applied Physical Chemistry Group led by Prof. Dr. Christina Roth. He will be working on the improvement of catalysts for fuel cells.